You may live somewhere hot and balmy right now - but I live in Ohio and today the high is 19! We are all longing for spring here but for now - we want to be happy and content in our sweet home. So it's my job, the mom's, to make my home a cozy happy place!

Here's some fun tips if you are "stranded" at home with preschool and elementary kids - let's make it fun!

1. Do a scavenger hunt - my kids LOVE scavenger hunts - you can even make it a treasure hunt. Have them make coins out of construction paper (the cutting will keep them busy for a while!) and then you hide them in a room. Then give them clues: warm, warmer, HOT as to when they are close to the treasure!

2. Pull out your camera and chronicle your daily life. You probably have lots of photos of your kids on holidays but have you chronicled your daily life - someday you will treasure these moments. So pull out your camera and take photos of your kids doing their favorite things at home - take a picture of them watching Curious George, eating their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or playing dress up, house or spider man. Someday you will be thankful you have photos of them not just from Christmas and Easter but from everyday life too.

3. Make cereal necklaces. Simply thread cheerios or fruit loops on long strands of yarn - then let them wear their necklaces and eat them as a snack.

4. Make noodle art.

5. Make cotton ball art.

6. Make a long paper chaing - this keeps my kid's busy for a VERY long time and they can work on it for DAYS adding to the chain!

Busy hands and a busy mind keeps a child out of trouble!

7. Play balloon games - my kids LOVE to play "keep it in the air" and we count how many hits before it touches the floor or we make goals and play soccer with the balloon.

8. Have a tea or hot cocoa party. This is a necessity on these cold days! I bought three bags of marshmallows at the grocery store yesterday - we are going to be making some serious hot cocoa and marshmallows this month! It's a cheap and easy thrill and the ear to ear grin is worth it!

9. Build a fort! This will keep them busy long after you've built it. We literally tip all of the couches in our formal living room and turn it into the coolest fort ever! Removing the chairs around a kitchen table and putting a sheet over it is a super easy way to make a quick fort! Encourage them to take pillows and books in there to play!

10. Have the kids look out the window and draw one thing that they see. Then have them add to it the next day and the next day and the next day.

I know you wish you had more time to do something for yourself - but this season of life will pass and a time will come when you can. Until then, enjoy these moments with your children and make them matter.

Ecclesiastes 3:11-13 says "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil - this is the gift of God."

Walk with the King!